The myth of the glamorous job:

Last week I met a 30ish young man who builds and installs cabinets and kitchens for IKEA customers who don’t want to do it themselves. Having personally gone crazy trying to assemble several IKEA products, I asked him if he loves his job. Without hesitation he replied, “I absolutely love it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it!” I love this guy.

Over my 20 years of business speaking and coaching many people have told me that they’d be happy if only they had a glamorous job. By most definitions, building and installing IKEA cabinets and kitchens is not a glamorous job…and yet this guy loves it.

The ‘glamorous job’ that so many folks are hoping for is a myth. Being an airline pilot is not glamorous. Mostly, it’s pretty boring. The plane flies itself 90% of the time. Being a surgeon is not glamorous…except on TV. Owning your own business is not glamorous. It’s mostly long hours of trying to solve problems that you had no idea existed when you worked for somebody else. Making movies is not glamorous. It’s bloody hard work with 3 AM set calls, long hours, 37 ‘takes’ of the same scene and a lot of just waiting around.

Here’s what I’ve figured out. A glamorous job is when you love…

what you do,

who you do it with,

and who you do it for

…and two out of three ain’t good enough.

So, how do you score on this one? If you don’t like what you do, for any of these three reasons, will you stay unhappy indefinitely, or will you do something about it? Finding and thriving at a job that you (mostly) love is one of the most important things you can do in life. It sure beats living and dying miserable.

I’ve coached many business owners who feel trapped in their own business. It isn’t fun anymore for whatever reason and they don’t know what to do about it. This is particularly damaging because if the boss is unhappy, everyone in the business is likely unhappy. Joy, passion and commitment start at the top. If your business model doesn’t serve your life model, you either have to find a way to fall back in love with your business…or it’s time to move on. Much of my coaching work is in exactly this area.

One other thing. We’ve all met people who are consistently unhappy in any job, in any business… and it’s always somebody else’s fault. The problem is internal and they need to work on attitude, gratitude, self-esteem and taking responsibility. They have work to do on themselves.

Who and where do you commit to be in three years? Find your glamorous job!

Donald Cooper, MBA, CSP, HoF:
Donald speaks and coaches in over 40 industries throughout the world. He delivers the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line...and have a life! To chat about ‘possibilities’ for your next business or Industry Association Conference, call me at 416-252-3703 in Toronto, or click here to connect to our ‘Enquiry Page’.